Fiachsteria

Fiachsteria, a combination of fiach (Irish for "debt") and "-steria", was an economic crisis that plagued Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s. Ireland was forced into perpetual debt as the result of its inability to reconcile its social programmes with its tax income or its industrial output, causing the fall of the Fine Gael government in 1950.

History
The crisis began in 1946 under George Fahey's Fine Gael government, during which Ireland's expenditures on education, administration, social spending, and the military surpassed Ireland's tax income. Because of the government's pro-military views, it could not slash military spending entirely; it cut military spending on all fronts, while keeping education, administration, and social spending at their maximum levels. The government also decided to raise taxes on all classes, ensuring that none of the upper or middle classes could meet their needs, while the lower classes also struggled to make ends meet. This caused emigration en masse to the United States, Canada, and Australia, and the government was forced to take large loans from the national banks of France and the United States, private investors, and its own bank. The decline of the Irish economy led to the liberal Fianna Fail party making gains in the 1946, 1949, and 1950 general elections, winning the last one. The new Fianna Fail Taoiseach, Colm O'Farrell, was just as unable to solve the crisis as Fahey had been. O'Farrell's party supported economic liberalism, meaning that it could not raise tariffs beyond their current levels, and that it was also unable to raise taxes. The government made artificial attempts to reduce debt by making small payments, but the economy stagnated, and each payment was rendered useless as debt (and the accompanying emigration) continued to skyrocket.